By Breda Heffernan
Tuesday November 17 2009

A garda who was on his way to court when he knocked down and killed a pensioner did not have a driving licence, an inquest has heard.
Garda Brian O'Connor held only a provisional licence and this expired over three years before the collision which claimed the life of Claire Barr (77). However, Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday heard that under current legislation gardai do not need to hold a licence when they are driving a vehicle in the course of their duties.
Other emergency workers, such as ambulance and fire brigade drivers, have similar exemptions.
The inquest was told that Gda O'Connor was on duty and en route from Blanchardstown station, where he is based, to the Bridewell District Court in the city centre when he struck Ms Barr as she crossed the Navan Road in Ashtown on September 21 2007. The garda was driving his own private car, a Volkswagen Golf, and was travelling in a bus lane at the time of the collision.
Darren Wright, a senior investigating officer with the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), said he interviewed the officer in April 2008 during which he demanded that the he produce his driving licence. However, he failed to do so. Mr Wright said further investigations with the relevant licensing authorities revealed that Gda O'Connor did not hold a licence at the time of the incident, and that he had only ever held a provisional one which had expired in July 2004.
The court heard that Gda O'Connor's superintendent had not authorised him to use his own private car, something that is normally done for "internal garda purposes".
Ms Barr's brother, Edward Barr, with whom she shared a home at the Paddocks, Ashtown Gate, described his sister as a "quiet, inoffensive lady" whose "main interest was shopping."
"She walked a lot and was relatively active ... and very healthy right up to the time of her death."
Hurried
Mr Barr said they had passed the morning of September 21 as usual and had dinner together at 12.30pm.
Ms Barr planned to go shopping in the city centre and was crossing the Navan Road at around 2pm when she was hit by the car.
Gda O'Connor told the inquest he was not authorised to drive official garda vehicles yet. He was on his way to the Bridewell when he came across heavy traffic and entered the bus lane with the intention of turning into a housing estate to do a U-turn.
He said he had travelled five or six car lengths along the bus lane when he saw a person emerge from the traffic on his left "in a hurried movement".
He said: "The whole incident happened in a split second. She kept looking straight in front of her and now to her left where I was."
Despite hitting the brakes, Gda O'Connor said he couldn't avoid hitting her.
He denied he was in a hurry to get to court or that he planned to use the bus lane all the way into the city. He said he was not exceeding the speed limit.
A jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure and recommended that the Oireachtas review the current legislation.
- Breda Heffernan
Irish Independent

Makes me sick...

was a bit shocked myself when i read this today.

Its bad enough killing someone but then lying and changing stories so it was less obvious he was abusing his powers just goes further to show the complete corruption.

and lets not forget the other cases

epic galway corruption
escorting drug dealers
passing info to gangs
a ban on all tiger raid info sharing, so theirs no leaks
gave a certain dealer license to kill and deal


and all this is quickly forgotten about and never followed up or reported.

Originally Posted by tonto

and all this is quickly forgotten about and never followed up or reported.

You can sing that bro,

Couple of years ago i was driving up to the town on my motorbike when a cop broke a red light in her private car and pulled straight out in front of me.

Bike hit the car and i went airborne, long story short the bitch lied through her arse and wanted to charge me with dangerous driving??
If i did'nt have witnesses and the cctv footage i'd have points on my license and no insurance claim to buy a new bike.

A few months later another cop knocked my elderly father off his push bike, lights on the front and back of the bike and he was wearing a high viz vest.

Neither cop was charged with any driving offense???

the fact that recent articles have all removed the most interesting points being the eyewitness statement about him ''bombing along'' and ''shifting up a gear'' (when about to turn a corner?)is a bit of a head scratcher.

poor family

Tonto are the posts in the right order on your screen??

just for irish forum threads.

Originally Posted by tonto

just for irish forum threads.

Well makes sense, backwards threads for a backwards thinking country...i sent skip a message so hopefully he/she will fix the problem.

[ganjabrother]

i would generally say people in ireland drive badly, they generally dont know their theory, cross continuous center lines when turning around a bend, not knowing whats on the other side of the corner, do not respect the priorities for cyclists, or for pedestrians crossing at a crossing.
that a cop gets away with some of the shit you guys put above, it is truly disgusting.
And IN ALL CASES if you are driving, you have FULL responsibility when there is an accident involving cyclists or pedestrians, you are supposed to keep your attention focused at all times and anticipate foolish behavior from cyclists or pedestrians even if they make a mistake (as they have priority even in those accidents, crossing at crossings, lights or no lights on a bike... are just safety guidelines, even if some are the law).
To sum up, when an accident with cylists/pedestrians, you are driving = it is YOUR fault. No bitching about the victim, NO excuses

wtf is one of those cops(who most as civil servants, pay no respect to their oath), gonna say when he/she hits a kid running out in front of the car in the middle of the road, are those assholes gonna blame the kid, are they gonna pin the responsibility on the kid for THEIR murder?

^^ Your 100% correct ganja.

Anyone remember years ago when the waiting list to do the test was so long they just gave out licences to a bunch of people?

Bit off topic but irish people dont have a bloody clue how to indicate on a round about.

[Jellyfish]

"Cops Get Away With Shit Ordinary Citizens Do Not"- wow, stop the presses...